Supporting Statement

OMB Supporting Statement

Financial Management Service/Treasury EFT Telephone Consumer Survey

Quantitative Survey

Background

The Financial Management Service (FMS), a bureau of the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), requested that the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) of St. Louis (acting as Treasury’s Fiscal Agent) plan and execute a national marketing campaign about direct deposit. To perform this task, the FRB of St. Louis contracted with a national marketing firm. FMS/Treasury and the FRB of St. Louis launched the Go Direct campaign nationally on September 27, 2005. The campaign is a marketing program designed to encourage Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) check recipients to switch to direct deposit. Given the campaign's success over the past three years, FMS has decided to continue this effort in 2008-09, and the FRB has contracted with Weber Shandwick for assistance in providing services for FMS in connection with the campaign.

On behalf of FMS/Treasury, the FRB of St. Louis and its contractors, Weber Shandwick and KRC Research, plan to conduct a national telephone consumer survey designed to provide updated information about attitudes toward direct deposit among general audience consumers (adults 18 and over). Over the past three years, the Go Direct campaign conducted similar national (and target market) telephone surveys.

This research is a component of the data collection approved in the October 2003 Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Market Research Study submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In this case the research is directed toward a general consumer audience and topically is similar to the research referenced in the October 2003 EFT Market Research Study Supporting Statement for Paper Work Reduction Act (PRA) Submission (OMB Control #1510-0074).

The objective of this voluntary telephone survey is to allow us to understand recent developments in attitudes toward direct deposit and measure any changes in attitudes and perceptions over the past three years since the research was conducted. We also plan to include additional interviews among "caregivers," broadly defined as people who provide any level of care for an adult or child who is chronically ill or disabled. Caregivers are an important component of the Go Direct campaign, as individual representative payees who receive payments on behalf of benefit recipients who are disabled or incapacitated make up 21 percent of Social Security check recipients and 39 percent of Supplemental Security Income check recipients.¹ This survey will also allow us to build on our current body of research to deepen our understanding of consumer perceptions and attitudes toward payment technology in support of FMS/Treasury’s national Go Direct campaign.

Methodology

To provide up-to-date information about consumers’ attitudes toward direct deposit,

KRC Research will conduct a 15 minute telephone survey of 1,000 adults nationwide, with an oversample of 300 "caregivers," broadly defined as a person who provides any level of care for an adult friend or family member suffering from an illness or disability. The survey will use a national random digit dial sample, including the oversample of "caregivers." Additionally, we will translate the survey into Spanish and have bilingual interviewers available to conduct interviews in Spanish for Spanish speaking respondents.

FMS/Treasury understands that this methodology will underrepresent adult consumers that do not have telephones in their homes. The audiences that will be underrepresented in the telephone survey make up a very small percentage of adults nationally and those we are targeting. Given that random sample telephone surveys continue to be the academically and commercially accepted method for collecting statistically valid random samples of adults nationally, Weber Shandwick/KRC Research are confident that the telephone survey will accomplish the objectives of this research.

Estimated Burden Hours

Completion of the telephone survey of 1,000 adult consumers plus and oversample of 300 "caregiver" is expected to take approximately 337 hours of time for those who are contacted and complete the telephone interview.

This estimate is based on the following:

Completing 1,300 15-minute interviews among adults 18 and over and caregivers (1,300 interviews x 15 minutes)/60 = 325 hours.

Given the incidence for adults 18 and over is 90%, we anticipate making an additional 111 contacts of individuals who will be asked screening questions to determine qualification to participate in the survey but do not qualify. Each contact should last approximately 30 seconds. Therefore, there will be approximately 56 additional minutes among those who are contacted but do not participate in the survey of adults 18 and over: 111 contacts x ½minute/60 = 55.5 minutes.

Given we expect the incidence of "caregivers" as defined in this survey to be approximately 25 percent, we anticipate making an additional 900 contacts of individuals who will be asked screening questions to determine qualification to participate in the survey but do not qualify. Each contact should last approximately 45 seconds. Therefore, there will be approximately 11 hours among those who are contacted but do not participate in the sample of "caregivers" as defined in this survey: 900 contacts x ¾ minute/60 = 11.25 hours.

Contact

For questions regarding the telephone survey, contact:

Doug Baker

KRC Research

700 13^th Street, NW, Suite 800

Washington, DC 20005

(202) 585-2829

E-mail address: dbaker@krcresearch.com

1 Go Direct SSA & SSI Survey. November 2007. KRC Research.